The tennis tournaments at the Paris Olympics continue with eight second-round men’s singles matches on Monday. The quest for Gold features some of the top players in the sport. As always, we here at LastWordOnTennis will predict all matches for you. The other article features Carlos Alcaraz vs. Tallon Griekspoor. Damian Kust, Manuel Traquete, and Jordan Reynolds predict these matches. Who do you think will move on to Round 3?
Paris Olympics Men’s Day 3 Predictions
Casper Ruud vs Andrea Vavassori
Damian
Ruud has a really nice draw at this event and not having to face Pedro Martinez (who already beat him in Estoril earlier this year) should make things easier. Vavassori has a very unique clay game that he often uses to produce upsets, but it would be something completely different for him to find a win of his caliber.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Manuel
Vavassori got a great win over Martinez today, but Ruud is extremely difficult to beat at Roland Garros and he’s high unlikely to pull off what only Djokovic, Nadal and Zverev could in recent years.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Jordan
Vavassori did great to beat clay court specialist Pedro Martinez in the last round. However, that does not mean he is in Ruud’s class on the dirt. The two-time French Open runner-up, who seems to have been unfairly written off by many considering his track record in Paris, to progress in straight sets.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Ugo Humbert vs Francisco Cerundolo
Damian
Cerundolo was able to beat Barrios Vera despite the short turnaround after his dramatic final vs Musetti in Umag. The Argentinian might start feeling the effects of that at some point this week, but for now the confidence should carry him through. Especially as he’s also a much better clay-courter than Humbert.
Prediction: Cerundolo in 3
Manuel
Cerundolo is bound to be a bit fatigued after his title run in Umag last week and in a matchup as tight as this one that along with Humbert’s home court advantage could well end up making the difference.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Jordan
Humbert’s impressive win against Fabian Marozsan will have meant a lot to him. He has an infamously poor record at Roland-Garros, but the nature of the triumph in front of his home fans will have done wonders for his belief. Cerundolo is always difficult to beat on clay, but I feel Humbert’s renewed confidence will help him win a tight match.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Sebastian Baez vs Benjamin Hassan
Damian
Hassan took advantage of that brilliant opportunity of drawing Eubanks in the opening round and is still present in the draw here. This might be coming to an end soon though. Baez is usually extremely solid on clay (hasn’t lost to a player ranked outside Top 50 since February) and should be able to put a stop to his run.
Prediction: Baez in 2
Manuel
Baez got a very fortunate draw here; under normal circumstances, Hassan would be very unlikely to qualify to a big ATP event and on clay it would be an enormous surprise if he could trouble Baez.
Prediction: Baez in 2
Jordan
Hassan had a good opening round draw against Christopher Eubanks, who produces his worst tennis on clay. Baez will be a much tougher challenge. The Argentine is excellent at winning best-of-three set matches on the dirt, and his overall game should overwhelm Hassan.
Prediction: Baez in 2
Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal
Damian
We’ve seen this one so many times, but now it’s a completely different scenario. Djokovic hasn’t been quite himself this year and is still looking for his first properly satisfying event (which in his case probably means a title). Nadal wasn’t convincing enough against Marton Fucsovics for me to think that the upset is possible.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2
Manuel
This is by far the most hyped match of this tournament so far. It will be the 60th installment of this matchup (the most ever by far) and the anticipation is as high as ever. On current level, Djokovic would be an obvious favorite, but the fact that this match will be played on Nadal’s favorite court, where he won 14 Grand Slam titles, definitely even things up significantly. The Spaniard could well get another famous win in Paris.
Prediction: Nadal in 3
Jordan
It is the match the entire tennis world wanted to see. Hopefully, it lives up to the hype, regardless of who wins. There is a danger of it being one-sided since Nadal was hesitant about playing in the singles, and Djokovic got more recovery time than his old rival after playing on Monday. It would be foolish to ever rule out Nadal at Roland-Garros, but there are too many doubts surrounding the Spaniard for me to back him.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey – USA TODAY Sports
